Records |
Author |
Santos, L.R.; Pearson, H.M.; Spaepen, G.M.; Tsao, F.; Hauser, M.D. |
Title |
Probing the limits of tool competence: experiments with two non-tool-using species (Cercopithecus aethiops and Saguinus oedipus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
94-109 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Association Learning; Cercopithecus aethiops; *Cognition; Female; *Intelligence; Male; *Motor Skills; *Problem Solving; Saguinus; Species Specificity |
Abstract |
Non-human animals vary in their ability to make and use tools. The goal of the present study was to further explore what, if anything, differs between tool-users and non-tool-users, and whether these differences lie in the conceptual or motor domain. We tested two species that typically do not use tools-cotton top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)-on problems that mirrored those designed for prolific tool users such as chimpanzees. We trained subjects on a task in which they could choose one of two canes to obtain an out-of-reach food reward. After training, subjects received several variations on the original task, each designed to examine a specific conceptual aspect of the pulling problem previously studied in other tool-using species. Both species recognized that effective pulling tools must be made of rigid materials. Subsequent conditions revealed significant species differences, with vervets outperforming tamarins across many conditions. Vervets, but not tamarins, had some recognition of the relationship between a tool's orientation and the position of the food reward, the relationship between a tool's trajectory and the substance that it moves on, and that tools must be connected in order to work properly. These results provide further evidence that tool-use may derive from domain-general, rather than domain-specific cognitive capacities that evolved for tool use per se. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, Yale University, Box 208205, New Haven, CT, USA. laurie.santos@yale.edu |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16341524 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2478 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Lonsdorf, E.V. |
Title |
What is the role of mothers in the acquisition of termite-fishing behaviors in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)? |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
36-46 |
Keywords |
Animals; Animals, Wild; *Behavior, Animal; Cooking and Eating Utensils; Feeding Behavior/*psychology; Female; *Imitative Behavior; Learning; Mothers/*psychology; Motor Skills; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Problem Solving |
Abstract |
This paper explores the role of maternal influences on the acquisition of a tool-using task in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in order to build on and complement previous work done in captivity. Young chimpanzees show a long period of offspring dependency on mothers and it is during this period that offspring learn several important skills, especially how to and on what to forage. At Gombe National Park, one skill that is acquired during dependency is termite-fishing, a complex behavior that involves inserting a tool made from the surrounding vegetation into a termite mound and extracting the termites that attack and cling to the tool. All chimpanzees observed at Gombe have acquired the termite-fishing skill by the age of 5.5 years. Since the mother is the primary source of information throughout this time period, I investigated the influence of mothers' individual termite-fishing characteristics on their offsprings' speed of acquisition and proficiency at the skill once acquired. Mother's time spent alone or with maternal family members, which is highly correlated to time spent termite-fishing, was positively correlated to offspring's acquisition of critical elements of the skill. I also investigated the specific types of social interactions that occur between mothers and offspring at the termite mound and found that mothers are highly tolerant to offspring, even when the behavior of the offspring may disrupt the termite-fishing attempt. However, no active facilitation by mothers of offsprings' attempts were observed. |
Address |
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. elonsdorf@lpzoo.org |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16195914 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2480 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Muscatello, G.; Anderson, G.A.; Gilkerson, J.R.; Browning, G.F. |
Title |
Associations between the ecology of virulent Rhodococcus equi and the epidemiology of R. equi pneumonia on Australian thoroughbred farms |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl Environ Microbiol |
Volume |
72 |
Issue |
9 |
Pages |
6152-6160 |
Keywords |
Actinomycetales Infections/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary; Air Microbiology; Animal Husbandry; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Australia/epidemiology; Colony Count, Microbial; DNA, Bacterial/genetics; Ecosystem; Horse Diseases/epidemiology/*microbiology; Horses; Pneumonia, Bacterial/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary; Rhodococcus equi/genetics/isolation & purification/*pathogenicity; Soil Microbiology; Virulence |
Abstract |
The ecology of virulent strains of Rhodococcus equi on horse farms is likely to influence the prevalence and severity of R. equi pneumonia in foals. This study examined the association between the ecology of virulent R. equi and the epidemiology of R. equi pneumonia by collecting air and soil samples over two breeding seasons (28 farm-year combinations) on Thoroughbred breeding farms with different reported prevalences of R. equi pneumonia. Colony blotting and DNA hybridization were used to detect and measure concentrations of virulent R. equi. The prevalence of R. equi pneumonia was associated with the airborne burden of virulent R. equi (both the concentration and the proportion of R. equi bacteria that were virulent) but was not associated with the burden of virulent R. equi in the soil. Univariable screening and multivariable model building were used to evaluate the effect of environmental and management factors on virulent R. equi burdens. Lower soil moisture concentrations and lower pasture heights were significantly associated with elevated airborne concentrations of virulent R. equi, as were the holding pens and lanes, which typically were sandy, dry, and devoid of pasture cover. Few variables appeared to influence concentrations of virulent R. equi in soil. Acidic soil conditions may have contributed to an elevated proportion of virulent strains within the R. equi population. Environmental management strategies that aim to reduce the level of exposure of susceptible foals to airborne virulent R. equi are most likely to reduce the impact of R. equi pneumonia on endemically affected farms. |
Address |
School of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. mug@unimelb.edu.au |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0099-2240 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16957241 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2622 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Collier-Baker, E.; Davis, J.M.; Nielsen, M.; Suddendorf, T. |
Title |
Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) understand single invisible displacement? |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
55-61 |
Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior; Task Performance and Analysis; *Visual Perception |
Abstract |
Previous research suggests that chimpanzees understand single invisible displacement. However, this Piagetian task may be solvable through the use of simple search strategies rather than through mentally representing the past trajectory of an object. Four control conditions were thus administered to two chimpanzees in order to separate associative search strategies from performance based on mental representation. Strategies involving experimenter cue-use, search at the last or first box visited by the displacement device, and search at boxes adjacent to the displacement device were systematically controlled for. Chimpanzees showed no indications of utilizing these simple strategies, suggesting that their capacity to mentally represent single invisible displacements is comparable to that of 18-24-month-old children. |
Address |
Early Cognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. e.collier-baker@psy.uq.edu.au |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16163481 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2482 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Vlasak, A.N. |
Title |
Global and local spatial landmarks: their role during foraging by Columbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
71-80 |
Keywords |
Animals; Cues; Feeding Behavior/*psychology; Female; *Memory; Mental Recall; Orientation; Sciuridae/*psychology; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior |
Abstract |
Locating food and refuge is essential for an animal's survival. However, little is known how mammals navigate under natural conditions and cope with given environmental constraints. In a series of six experiments, I investigated landmark-based navigation in free-ranging Columbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus). Squirrels were trained individually to find a baited platform within an array of nine identical platforms and artificial landmarks set up on their territories. After animals learned the location of the food platform in the array, the position of the latter with respect to local artificial, local natural, and global landmarks was manipulated, and the animal's ability to find the food platform was tested. When only positions of local artificial landmarks were changed, squirrels located food with high accuracy. When the location of the array relative to global landmarks was altered, food-finding accuracy decreased but remained significant. In the absence of known global landmarks, the presence of a familiar route and natural local landmarks resulted in significant but not highly accurate performance. Squirrels likely relied on multiple types of cues when orienting towards a food platform. Local landmarks were used only as a secondary mechanism of navigation, and were not attended to when a familiar route and known global landmarks were present. This study provided insights into landmark use by a wild mammal in a natural situation, and it demonstrated that an array of platforms can be employed to investigate landmark-based navigation under such conditions. |
Address |
Biology Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. avlasak@sas.upenn.edu |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16163480 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2483 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Barry, K.L.; Goth, A. |
Title |
Call recognition in chicks of the Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
47-54 |
Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; Australia; Cues; Galliformes/*physiology; Robotics; *Social Behavior; Species Specificity; Visual Perception |
Abstract |
Most birds rely on imprinting and experience with conspecifics to learn species-specific recognition cues. Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami) do not imprint and form no bonds with parents. They hatch asynchronously, disperse widely and meet juvenile conspecifics at an unpredictable age. Nevertheless, in captivity, hatchlings respond to other chicks. A recent study, which involved the use of robotic models, found that chicks prefer to approach robots that emit specific visual cues. Here, we evaluated their response to acoustic cues, which usually play an important role in avian social cognition. However, in simultaneous choice tests, neither 2-day-old nor 9-day-old chicks preferred the choice arm with playback of either chick or adult conspecific calls over the arm containing a silent loudspeaker. Chicks of both age classes, however, scanned their surroundings more during chick playback, and the response was thus consistent in younger and older chicks. We also presented the chicks with robotic models, either with or without playback of chick calls. They did not approach the calling robot more than they did the silent robot, indicating that the combination of visual and acoustic cues does not evoke a stronger response. These results will allow further comparison with species that face similar cognitive demands in the wild, such as brood parasites. Such a comparative approach, which is the focus of cognitive ecology, will enable us to further analyse the evolution and adaptive value of species recognition abilities. |
Address |
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16160818 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2484 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Fiset, S.; Dore, F.Y. |
Title |
Duration of cats' (Felis catus) working memory for disappearing objects |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
62-70 |
Keywords |
Animals; Cats/*psychology; *Exploratory Behavior; Female; Male; *Memory; Random Allocation; *Visual Perception |
Abstract |
This study explored the duration of cats' working memory for hidden objects. Twenty-four cats were equally divided into four groups, which differed according to the type of visual cues displayed on and/or around the hiding boxes. During eight sessions, the four groups of cats were trained to locate a desirable object hidden behind one of the four boxes placed in front of them. Then, the cats were tested with retention intervals of 0, 10, 30 and 60 s. Results revealed no significant differences between the groups during training or testing. In testing, the cats' accuracy to locate the hidden object rapidly declined between 0 and 30 s but remained higher than chance with delays of up to 60 s. The analysis of errors also indicated that the cats searched as a function of the proximity of the target box and were not subjected to intertrial proactive interference. This experiment reveals that the duration of cats' working memory for disappearing objects is limited and the visual cues displayed on and/or around the boxes do not help the cats to memorize a hiding position. In discussion, we explore why the duration of cats' working memory for disappearing objects rapidly declined and compare these finding with those from domestic dogs. The irrelevance of visual cues displayed on and around the hiding boxes on cats' retention capacity is also discussed. |
Address |
Secteur Sciences Humaines, Universite de Moncton, Campus d'Edmundston, Edmundston, New-Brunswick,, Canada, E3V 2S8. sfiset@umce.ca |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16133631 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2485 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Riedel, J.; Buttelmann, D.; Call, J.; Tomasello, M. |
Title |
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) use a physical marker to locate hidden food |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
27-35 |
Keywords |
Animals; Cues; Dogs/*psychology; Female; Gestures; Humans; Male; *Nonverbal Communication; *Recognition (Psychology); Signal Detection (Psychology); Visual Perception |
Abstract |
Dogs can use the placement of an arbitrary marker to locate hidden food in an object-choice situation. We tested domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in three studies aimed at pinning down the relative contributions of the human's hand and the marker itself. We baited one of two cups (outside of the dogs' view) and gave the dog a communicative cue to find the food. Study 1 systematically varied dogs' perceptual access to the marker placing event, so that dogs saw either the whole human, the hand only, the marker only, or nothing. Follow-up trials investigated the effect of removing the marker before the dog's choice. Dogs used the marker as a communicative cue even when it had been removed prior to the dog's choice and attached more importance to this cue than to the hand that placed it although the presence of the hand boosted performance when it appeared together with the marker. Study 2 directly contrasted the importance of the hand and the marker and revealed that the effect of the marker diminished if it had been associated with both cups. In contrast touching both cups with the hand had no effect on performance. Study 3 investigated whether the means of marker placement (intentional or accidental) had an effect on dogs' choices. Results showed that dogs did not differentiate intentional and accidental placing of the marker. These results suggest that dogs use the marker as a genuine communicative cue quite independently from the experimenter's actions. |
Address |
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6 D-04103, Leipzig, Germany. riedel@eva.mpg.de |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:15846526 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2488 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Fiset, S.; Landry, F.; Ouellette, M. |
Title |
Egocentric search for disappearing objects in domestic dogs: evidence for a geometric hypothesis of direction |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
1-12 |
Keywords |
Animals; Dogs/*psychology; Female; Form Perception; Male; Mental Recall; *Motion Perception; Orientation; Problem Solving; *Space Perception |
Abstract |
In several species, the ability to locate a disappearing object is an adaptive component of predatory and social behaviour. In domestic dogs, spatial memory for hidden objects is primarily based on an egocentric frame of reference. We investigated the geometric components of egocentric spatial information used by domestic dogs to locate an object they saw move and disappear. In experiment 1, the distance and the direction between the position of the animal and the hiding location were put in conflict. Results showed that the dogs primarily used the directional information between their own spatial coordinates and the target position. In experiment 2, the accuracy of the dogs in finding a hidden object by using directional information was estimated by manipulating the angular deviation between adjacent hiding locations and the position of the animal. Four angular deviations were tested: 5, 7.5, 10 and 15 degrees . Results showed that the performance of the dogs decreased as a function of the angular deviations but it clearly remained well above chance, revealing that the representation of the dogs for direction is precise. In the discussion, we examine how and why domestic dogs determine the direction in which they saw an object disappear. |
Address |
Secteur Sciences Humaines, Universite de Moncton, Campus d'Edmundston, Edmundston, New-Brunswick, Canada E3V 2S8. sfiset@umce.ca |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:15750805 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2489 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Munoz-Sanz, A. |
Title |
[Christopher Columbus flu. A hypothesis for an ecological catastrophe] |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiologia Clinica |
Abbreviated Journal |
Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin |
Volume |
24 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
326-334 |
Keywords |
Animals; Atlantic Islands; Birds; Chickens; Disease Outbreaks/*history; Disease Reservoirs; Disease Susceptibility; Ecology; Europe/ethnology; History, 15th Century; Horses; Humans; Indians, South American; Influenza A virus/classification/genetics/pathogenicity; Influenza in Birds/epidemiology/history/transmission/virology; Influenza, Human/epidemiology/*history/mortality/transmission; Models, Biological; Orthomyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology/history/veterinary/virology; Poultry Diseases/epidemiology/history/transmission/virology; Reassortant Viruses/genetics/pathogenicity; Species Specificity; Sus scrofa; Swine Diseases/history/transmission/virology; Terminology; West Indies/epidemiology |
Abstract |
When Christopher Columbus and his men embarked on the second Colombian expedition to the New World (1493), the crew suffered from fever, respiratory symptoms and malaise. It is generally accepted that the disease was influenza. Pigs, horses and hens acquired in Gomera (Canary Islands) traveled in the same ship. The pigs may well have been the origin of the flu and the intermediary hosts for genetic recombination of other viral subtypes. The Caribbean archipelago had a large population of birds, the natural reservoir of the avian influenza virus. In this ecological scenario there was a concurrence of several biological elements that had never before coexisted in the New World: pigs, horses, the influenza virus and humans. We propose that birds are likely to have played an important role in the epidemiology of the flu occurring on the second Colombian trip, which caused a fatal demographic catastrophe, with an estimated mortality of 90% among the natives. |
Address |
Unidad de Patologia Infecciosa, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, Servicio Extremeno de Salud, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Espana. infectio@unex.es |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
Spanish |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
La gripe de Cristobal Colon. Hipotesis sobre una catastrofe ecologica |
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0213-005X |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16762260 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2624 |
Permanent link to this record |